An Israeli court sentenced a man to 16 years in prison on Tuesday for aiding in the so-called honor killing of his sister. The case was unusual in that the women of the family broke their code of silence and testified against the man.

One hundred and thirty-three women were killed last year in Basra, Iraq’s second largest city, either by religious vigilantes or as a result of so-called “honour” killings, a report said on 31 December, 2007.

"There is no legal or Islamic basis for such sentencing. Although it is true that according to Qur’anic teaching, a woman may not meet a man in privacy, no punishment was decreed for taking such action."